Those who read this blog or follow me on twitter will probably know that I am a big Nancy Holder fan, and after reading Possessions - which I was unable to put down while reading, especially towards the end - I was very keen on getting to The Evil Within. What was really great was not just that I was not disappointed, but that Holder had improved on everything - all the little things that I didn't quite like about Possessions, or that I felt could have been handled differently (for the better) were fixed here, and to me it made The Evil Within an even better read than its predecessor.

In Possessions a lot of the early story was rich kid/scholarship, Mean Girls-type of drama, with the paranormal coming in behind that. While the rich kid, Mean Girls drama adds flavour to The Evil Within, the paranormal aspect of the series was in full-force here. To me the change in emphasis is a good thing - it helps pick up the pace a bit and really gets into all the things that I wanted answered after reading the first book. It also allows the characterisation to pick up - now that everything seems more focussed, and with higher stakes and new goals for characters, everything gets expanded and for the best.

I love a book that keeps me guessing along with the characters, and The Evil Within definitely managed to do that. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, something came along and flipped me so I was not sure/was proved wrong - and it wasn't in a way that didn't make sense/conflicted with everything that had set up, so it made for a fantastic whirlwind of a plot. If Pretty Little Devils had me guessing and second-guessing the truth, then The Evil Within had been fourth and fifth-guessing at what would happen and had happened. And as a person who tends to figure things out 'too soon', I loved that.

Overall The Evil Within was an incredibly spooky read that, once picked up proved very addictive and difficult to put down. Now that I have finished The Evil Within though, and put it down, it is now simply a matter of eagerly waiting for part three.